I-T finds tax evasion in 2G scam; status report in SC tomorrow

The Income Tax department has found instances of alleged tax evasion and “multiple routing” of undeclared wealth in the 2G spectrum allocation scam and will file its first status report on the probe in the case in the Supreme Court tomorrow.

The department, according to officials, has reportedly traced instances of tax evasion by various Telecom firms that have been named by the CBI and the ED in their charge sheets.

The role of corporate lobbyist Ms Niira Radia would also be mentioned in the report, they said.

“Various benami entities have been found to have received funds and carried out their multiple routing. These funds were never shown on account books,” an I-T official said.

The report, which will be placed in a sealed cover before the apex court, has been prepared after collecting information and carrying out investigation of accounts, banking records and sources of funding of these firms.

The I-T department, according to the officials, have relied heavily on the its intelligence gathering tools, which keep the records of individual taxpayers and corporate firms, to prepare the status report, which was to be filed on May 3.

The department did not conduct full-fledged and independent searches under the provisions of the Income Tax Act in the case which relates to the allocation of the new Unified Access Services (UAS) licenses and subsequent allocation of the 2G spectrum.

Sources said the I-T probe went into charges of alleged bribing and possession of disproportionate assets against some of the operators who were awarded licenses under the 2G spectrum deal.

The department had gone into the angle of tax evasion in the entire process of allotment of the 2G spectrum through under-stating profits and escalating losses to allegedly facilitate bribes and kickbacks.

The status report has been prepared after a special cell was created in the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), which probed the entire case with the involvement of the investigation, intelligence and various tax collection units of the department.